Braids and Bruises
by Sabra Thimble
Summary: A girl finds her way into the lives of the Gundam Guyz. But what does Heero know about her that will affect them all?


Braids and Bruises  
  
Part I  
  
They were after her, she knew it. Running swiftly down deserted alleyways, bounding over chain-link fences and dodging rusted garbage cans, Ariana did whatever she could to throw them off. But it wasn't working, and that she knew that as well. It would only be a matter of time before they caught up to her, and she didn't even want to think about what would happen to her then. However, she did know that it would be much worse than the last time, which had left her with several broken bones and cigarette burns on her back. This time, they were out to kill her. But as much as she tried to continue, Ariana soon could feel herself tiring, her throbbing calf muscles screaming in protest. 'No,' she thought, 'I'm not going to die, not after all that I've gotten through. Not like this.' Mustering her last burst of speed, she turned the corner of an old warehouse and seeing a steel door just a few feet away, tried the knob. It was locked, but that was no problem for the streetwise girl. In a few seconds she had opened it and slipped into the building.  
  
Inside, there was only a few dim lights overhead to lead the way, but it was just enough to see where she was going and not fall flat on her face. After following the long, narrow corridor for a little while, Ariana came upon an old staircase, which had obviously been used more than its share of times. In more than a few places steps had rusted right through, and the railing was bent and broken. She highly doubted that it would support even her slight frame, but it was much better than the alternative, which she was sure was looking for her just outside. Needing no second bidding, she began to climb the stairs gingerly, taking the steps lightly and quickly to get to the top as fast as possible. Before opening the door that presented itself at the top of the stairs, Ariana leaned her ear against it, checking to see if anybody was in the room before she entered. Hearing nothing, she opened the door and went in.  
  
The sight that greeted her eyes was both horrifying and arousing at the same time. The large room was scantily furnished, with only a few shelves, a small television set, a closet and an overstuffed striped couch. What caught her attention however was the very sexy bishonen laying on it. Clad only in a pair of black cotton boxer shorts, the boy had kicked off the ratty yellow blanket intended to keep him warm, revealing his strong, well-muscled arms and chest. He was snoring softly, his mouth hanging slightly open. A long braid snaked out behind him, and thick spiky bangs partially covered his forehead. Common sense the only thing keeping her from jumping the poor boy's bones right there, Ariana snuck soundlessly across the room towards the window, intending to escape from it onto the roof. Suddenly, a hand collided solidly with her collarbone, and that was the last thing that she remembered for a long time.  
  
Something was tickling her nose. Trying to brush it away, she wondered why her hands wouldn't move. She was so tired… Not to mention the fact that her head hurt like a bitch. "Knock it off, godammit!" she muttered testily. The offending tickler retreated, and she prepared to fall asleep again when she was awoken fully as somebody extremely close by shouted,  
  
"*Ohayou, nemui!!*" Right into her ear.  
  
"AR~AAAAA!!"  
  
Sitting up instantly, Ariana prepared to smack the kisama with the incredibly loud voice box when she discovered that her hands and feet were bound tightly together with some telephone wires.  
  
"What the…" was all that she could say before she was bombarded with explanations.  
  
"Gomen, gomen, it was all Heero's idea. He said that you might be a threat, and until he knew whether you were or not, he was gonna treat you like one. I said that it didn't seem to be the nicest way to treat a guest, but if you only knew Heero, this guy's a real fanatic when it comes to this kinda thing. So yo..."  
  
"Urusai!!! Kudasai." She begged him.  
  
Her mind spinning, Ariana attempted to take stock of the situation. 'Okay, I'm tied up with telephone wires in some hyperactive bishonen's living room. He seems to not want to harm me or he would have done so already, but I don't know about this Heero guy. I'll just have to wait and meet him to find out." Thus decided, she sat back against the couch and prepared to wait out whatever this boy had planned for her.  
  
"So, um, what's your name?" she asked tentatively. Coming out of what she had previously thought to be a closet, he replied something that sounded like "Dewa Mawhksfell," but she couldn't be sure due to the fact that his mouth was stuffed with potato chips. 'So the closet's a kitchen then, I bet that's where this Heero person came from when he whacked me in the neck,' she thought sourly. 'I'll have to pay him back for that one later.'  
  
"Gomen. The name's Duo Maxwell," he stated proudly, holding out his hand and realizing too late that she couldn't shake it. Oddly enough, Ariana found that she was beginning to enjoy the braided boy's company already. He seemed a bit on the naïve side, but she saw it as cute and wanted get to know him better while they waited for the mysterious Heero to arrive.  
  
"Saaa… okay then. What should we do while we wait for Heero?" she asked.  
  
"Well, there's not much we can do with you tied up like that. Ordinarily, I'd say that we could go get a bite to eat down the street, but it don't look like you'll be going anywhere." He replied remorsefully.  
  
Ariana began to wriggle her wrists experimentally, hoping that he would be dumb enough to let her loose so that she could escape.  
  
"Well look, if you'd just help me out her…" she got no further as a gun was instantly pointed at her head. The safety clicked off loudly, and she gasped.  
  
"Duo, what are you…"  
  
"With a war going on, I can't afford to make mistakes. You are staying right where you are until Heero gets here, and don't even think about trying anything. I may act stupid, but I sure as hell ain't. It's what's kept me alive this long. So just stay put."  
  
Surprised at his actions, Ariana could only stare at him. Gradually, he lowered his gun and slumped to the ground next to her, looking very tired all of a sudden. Resting his head against his chest, Duo seemed to be asleep. But she knew better than to try anything after how he had just reacted, so she just sat still even when soft snores came from his still body.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*  
  
Hn. Now aren't I just a masochist?? …The thought of Duo… on a couch… in boxer shorts... Now isn't that a wakeup call?? What an ecchi thought; God I am such a hentai! ( I suppose you're going to give me some comments and other feedback, right?? Good. I'll be waiting for it!!  
  
Braids and Bruises Part II  
  
The loud click of the doorknob jolted the lightly sleeping girl to wakefulness. 'Damn, I must have dozed off without my knowing it… I haven't done that for years.' She thought. Pivoting her body towards the door, Ariana looked up into a pair of piercing, cobalt blue eyes.  
  
"You must be Heero. I'd get up to greet you, but I seem to be a little tied up at the moment." She cracked cynically. He only snorted in reply, but she could practically see the wheels in his head spinning at 1,000 mph. He stared at her openly for a couple of seconds before disappearing into the kitchenette.  
  
"Duo… Duo. Duo!!" Shoving him off her shoulder where he had been sleeping, Ariana attempted to awaken the drowsy boy.  
  
"Wake up!! Heero's back."  
  
At this, Duo was instantly awake and acting as though he had never even been asleep at all. Jumping to his feet, he winked at her and strode into the other room where Heero was apparently making himself some dinner. Forced to stay where she was, Ariana could only strain her ears to hear the whispered conversation that took place between the two.  
  
"…she's been real nice… let her loose… no threat…" 'Yeah, right. If they only knew how dangerous I could be,' she thought bitterly. After a few minutes, Duo practically bounced into the room, talking a mile a minute.  
  
"Heero says that we can release you now because you obviously aren't going to attack us or anything now are you, I mean you're just a kid our own age, whatcha gonna do, pull a gun on us?? He he, well look at that! You should have said something your wrists are really red that must hurt gomen…"  
  
And on and on. Ariana couldn't understand a word that he said he was talking so fast, but it didn't matter to her. After being alone in quiet sterile rooms, waiting for the arrival of a potential rescuer, any kind of noise was welcome to her ears. And in a way, it was kind of nice, she reflected. He didn't ask any questions, at least. She would just have to hope that he didn't notice the bruises that marred her inner thighs and breastbone. And the small, circular burns on her back. But most importantly, the long, thin scars on her wrists that stopped just short of her dirty elbows.  
  
Killing herself had never been an unpleasant thought; in fact she had often looked for ways to accomplish the grisly task several times when things were really bad. She'd even come close to succeeding once, when they had left a small mirror lying around. Sneaking it back with her when they locked her in her room, Ariana had smashed the mirror into her bedpost, and using one of the jagged pieces of glass she had dug them deeply into her wrists, dragging the glass upward until she could no longer bear the pain and passed out, bleeding profusely upon the cement floor.  
  
Of course, God would not have enough mercy upon her to just let her die, so they had found her in time to wrap some torn part of her sheets around the gaping bloody wounds. It had stopped the bleeding, but since she had kept ripping off the bandages hoping to bleed to death, they had been forced to handcuff her to the bed. Not being able to move, she had begun to starve to death until they noticed this as well and force-fed her. Ariana had found this funny, that they would want to keep her alive so bad when most of the time they acted like they wanted to kill her. After she healed, they were noticeably not as rough with her, but it was still torture. Ariana knew that she had to escape, and soon. Or else she would die a slow and painful death at the hands of her captors.  
  
So for the next three weeks, she watched for any chance to escape. As soon as one of them let their guard down, Ariana was prepared to run for it, even if she had to kill them all with their own guns. She would do anything, anything as long as it got her out of the Hell they kept her locked up in. And one day, she was rewarded with a chance.  
  
Once every week all of the men would leave their dirty apartment complex to go out and drink at the local bar down the street. Unfortunately, they always got back within two hours, not nearly enough time for her to pick the lock on her door and escape. But this week, Ariana knew that they would be leaving for a few hours longer to go make a deal with a friend in the city. It didn't matter to her what they were doing, as long as it meant her escape. So as soon as the door clicked shut behind them, she set to work. Pulling a hair clip out of her messy, unwashed hair, Ariana began the long job of opening the lock on her door. 'Shit, this'll take a while.'  
  
About an hour and a half later, she knew that the lock was close to being opened. Sweat beaded her forehead, which was furrowed in deep concentration. Suddenly, a soft click announced her job's completion.  
  
"YES!!" she yelled, before clamping her hand over her mouth tightly. Hoping that nobody had heard her, Ariana slipped into the deserted hallway and ran lightly over its nonexistent carpeting. Her heart felt lighter than it ever had before, and something deep within her told her that she would escape. Pausing for only an instant to open the front door, Ariana Hearte stepped into the cool night air for the first time in three long, painful years. And that was when, returning much earlier than she had anticipated, the kisamas saw her. And they sure as Hell weren't happy.  
  
"Ariana… hello… Ariana!! Is anybody home in there??" Starting from her reverie, Ariana realized that she had been sitting quite still for at least twenty minutes. Two worry-tinged violet orbs stared into her dark green ones from a very close proximity.  
  
"Daijoubu ka? You've been sitting there for quite some time minna-san." She noticed Heero standing off to Duo's left hand side, leaning against the doorframe nonchalantly. He did not look half as concerned as Duo was acting, but the worry was definitely there, hidden carefully within his cobalt blue eyes.  
  
"Aa. Daijoubu. I must have drifted off for a second there…" Abruptly, Ariana was interrupted by Duo's outburst.  
  
"Asleep?!? No way!! You were definitely not asleep. Your eyes were wide open, and you were just kinda… staring. It really freaked me out, ya know?? Look, I think that it's about time you tell me and Heero the chatterbox here why you're running from those assholes he saw out back, what they did to you, and why you tried to kill yourself."  
  
The last one caught her completely off guard, and she found herself staring stupidly at him.  
  
"H-how did you know? I mean, about my suicide attempt… I never told you did I?" She licked her lips nervously. Ariana had never known that she talked in her sleep before, but nobody had told her that she didn't, either. Who knew what information about her past could have been divulged while she was asleep. The thought terrified her. As if reading her mind, Heero reassured her stoically.  
  
"No, don't worry. You didn't tell us anything you aren't aware of. But while I was tying your wrists together, I couldn't help but notice the scars on them. What possessed you to try something like that? From the looks of it, those cuts were extremely deep. Most any other human being would have passed out after only an inch long cut… but you managed to slice your entire forearm. Who treated you this way? Tell us, we promise to keep whoever it was away from you."  
  
Listening to Heero's promises of safety brought everything crashing down upon Ariana very suddenly, like a huge tidal wave that threatened to crush her completely. The small girl began to shake violently, and she found it oddly hard to breathe as her throat constricted. Duo was there instantly, wrapping his arms around her slim torso and whispering in her ear like a mantra,  
  
"Shhh… it's okay. We're here for you, it's okay, everything's gonna be alright. It's okay. Shhh… it's okay. Everything's gonna be okay…" Over and over again. Heero walked over and sat down carefully on the couch, watching the unfolding scene as if he didn't entirely know what to do to help the shaking, sobbing girl in Duo's arms. After a few minutes, her sobs subsided to the occasional sniffle, and checking to make sure that she was okay, Duo unwrapped his arms from around her and led her over to the couch.  
  
"Are you all right now? I think that you need to tell us what's going on." Needing no third bidding, Ariana began in a shaky voice to tell the keenly listening boys before her the hopelessness, torture, hatred and pain of the last three years. Though she began reluctantly, embarrassed to tell them all about her torture, she soon found herself telling them absolutely everything. They listened to her every word, Heero's eyes becoming darker and more resolute with each passing minute. Occasionally, Duo would utter a sharp intake of breath when she shared some of the more grisly parts, but other than that the two were silent. When she had finished, they sat quietly for several minutes before Heero surprisingly summed up what the two had been thinking for some time.  
  
"K'so. We have to get her out of here. Now."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*  
  
Okay, here it is: Part III. My beta reader, Sweetie, has been nagging me for it for the past two weeks, so I guess that meant I had to get typing!! ^_^ Hope you like it, C&C is greatly appreciated… *wink*  
  
Braids and Bruises Part III  
  
Ariana was awakened by a warm sensation on her face. Opening her eyes slowly, she was surprised to see that it was sunshine. 'I haven't woken up to the sun for over three years.' She thought ruefully. Looking around, she wondered why she was on a couch. 'Duo put you there, remember? After you… oh che. You told him, baka. You told him *everything*.' Groaning loudly, she rose from the couch and stumbled sleepily into the kitchen where a fully alert Duo was making breakfast. And damn, it smelled good.  
  
"Hey, good morning. Heero's off to get us plane tickets, he's contacted Quatre and we get to go stay with him now!! Are you hungry?"  
  
Nodding slowly, her eyes unscrewed just enough to see, Ariana accepted the coffee and omelet that he placed in front of her and after a grated, "Itadakimasu," she mechanically began to eat. However, it was so good Ariana soon found herself eating with enthusiasm, and when Heero returned an hour later, she was awake and ready to go.  
  
"All right. I got us flight tickets to Quatre's; he said he'd be waiting for us. We'll have about three hours before we have to leave. Duo, why don't you two go do something. Kudasai. I have to plan out our next… trip. It's going to be you and me, so you Ariana will be with Quatre, Trowa and Wufei at Quatre's place on the Lagrange Colony 4."  
  
"Ch'kushou! A trip? That sucks! Oh well, business is business. Let's go Ariana. I know just the place to take you." Leading her out of the building, Duo preceded to half drag the poor girl down the now deserted back street towards the main road.  
  
"Where are we going Duo?" she asked warily. Even with him around, Ariana was still all too aware that she was in danger. Anyhow, Duo was just fifteen. He was probably some member of a local gumi, just a kid with a gun.  
  
"Don't worry, you'll see." He was obviously attempting to be comforting, but Ariana just couldn't seem to shake off the feeling that she was in danger. But she would try, for Duo.  
  
After a few minutes, the two were rewarded with the sound of an approaching city bus. It slowly pulled to a stop beside them, and they climbed on. Duo hastily dropped a few coins into the cash collector, and they chose a seat near the back of the bus. A few people stared at Ariana's torn clothing and dirty hair, but only for a second before looking away. Homeless kids weren't uncommon these days.  
  
Duo sat by the window, and stared out of it intensely, obviously searching for something. After about five minutes of silence, his face lit up and he reached up and yanked sharply on the cord overhead, causing the bus to pull over. The two got off of the bus and once again, Ariana found herself being led somewhere unbeknownst to her. Duo's face had taken on an unholy light, and an evil grin split his beautiful features. Abruptly he stopped, causing Ariana to plow into him sharply. Duo didn't even seem to notice.  
  
"Here we are!" he said brightly. "we're going to go… shopping!!"  
  
Looking up from the ground, which she had been watching to keep from falling, Ariana found herself staring at a huge building. People streamed in and out of it, carrying various items in paper bags displaying the names of the stores within. Bright happy music flowed out of the open doorways, and banners hung from the ceiling proclaiming what was on sale or buy one get one free. Ariana was absolutely petrified.  
  
"Come on! I know just the place to get you some new clothes." Duo said, walking into the mall, a submissive Ariana in tow. Once inside, Duo seemed to know exactly where to go. In just a few minutes, she found herself in a clothing store, trying on some jeans.  
  
"Now that I've got you here, I'm just going to look around. I'll leave you to your own devices. Be back in a half hour, okay? Here's some cash, buy whatever the hell you want. You deserve it!" He called over his shoulder.  
  
The thought that she could escape now passed briefly through her head, but Ariana violently squashed that thought. 'They helped me. I guess I could call them… friends? I'm not going to just walk away now.' She turned back towards the pants and admired herself in the mirror.  
  
At eleven thirty, Duo jounced back into the clothing store, a few paper bags in tow. On them was a brand she didn't recognize, so Ariana didn't ask.  
  
"Didja get everything you need?" The braided boy inquired anxiously.  
  
"Yeah. Thank you Duo, I really appreciate it. I needed clothes so bad! And some shampoo and conditioner, I got that too."  
  
"Good. Listen, we should really get going if we're gonna make our flight, Heero's probably waiting for us back at the… uh… apartment. If you could call it that," He laughed softly to himself, and together they left the mall.  
  
An hour later found the three wizened adolescents on a nonstop flight headed straight to space, and for Ariana, the future was bright.  
  
Throughout the ten hour flight, Duo chattered away and Heero sat silently, working on a black laptop. All in all, it was rather unnerving. Being her first time that she could remember being on an aircraft of any kind, Ariana was feeling more than a little bit sick. By the time they reached the colony Ariana was slightly crazed, and desperately needing to lie down for a while. But the light-haired boy waiting for them drastically lifted her spirits. He seemed to be full of personality, and was genuinely overjoyed to see them, all three of them. Apparently Heero had told Quatre about her, because he didn't seem surprised to see Ariana get off of the shuttle with them.  
  
"Hi! You must be Ariana. I am Quatre Reberba Winner, heir to the Winner Industries." He didn't say this with any self imposed importance, however the affect was obvious.  
  
"*You're* Mr. Winner's son? Wow… Never thought I'd find myself meeting you," Ariana said. The four walked out of the shuttle port to the waiting car out front. It was a nice drive to the Winner mansion, and Ariana was able to experience being on a colony for the first time. It didn't seem all that different from earth, but there was something missing about it that just seemed… artificial. The drive was a short one, and she was almost disappointed when they reached their destination.  
  
"Here we are!" Quatre said brightly, as they stepped out of the car and entered Quatre's mansion. Hell, it was a huge, even as mansions went! Ariana found herself staring at everything they passed, statues, paintings, and marble staircases. It was a totally different world to her, one that she had never been allowed to enter. After making sure that Heero and Duo knew where their rooms were, Quatre led her to her own. It was just down the hall from the other five guys' rooms, so that Ariana would know where they were.  
  
"If anything is not to your satisfaction, please feel free to contact me or any of the maids and butlers. We're here to help you out with anything you need. Ryoukai?"  
  
"Hai. Thank you Quatre, I really appreciate you taking me in like this."  
  
"Oh really, we are happy to have you here. Heero told me…the, um, circumstances surrounding your situation, and I would much rather you were here than on Earth with those…men…"  
  
After Quatre left, Ariana went immediately into the washroom adjacent to her bedroom and took the longest bath of her life. Once she was sure that her hair and skin was free of all dirt, the exhausted girl laid down gratefully on her bed, not even bothering to slip into her pajamas. However, no sooner had she fallen asleep when a loud knocking announced the arrival of an unwanted visitor.  
  
"Who is it?" she called, sounding much sweeter than she felt.  
  
The knocking stopped, and a masculine voice drawled sleepily, "It's Duo! Lemme in,"  
  
Rising off of the soft feather bed, Ariana went across the room and unlocked the door. Half-falling into her room, Duo staggered over to her bed where he slumped onto it like  
  
a bag of cement. Raising his head, Duo gave her a cheeky grin before he shut his eyes and allowed his head to fall back onto the cushiony mattress.  
  
"What is it Duo? You actually look *tired* for a change," she said sardonically.  
  
"I just came to say goodnight and goodbye. Me and Heero are leaving in the morning, and we won't be back for about a week. We're headed for Earth again, got some business to take care of there."  
  
Ariana was perceptibly disappointed, but put up a brave front for her newfound friend.  
  
"All right. I'll see you in a week then?"  
  
"Yeah. I'll be back, don't worry. And Quat and Tro'll take good care of ya. They're good guys. Wufei… well, just don't get him started on justice, and you'll like him a lot. He's the honorable type, ya know what I mean? But he's cool as a cucumber where it counts."  
  
After Duo left her room, Ariana reflected about him. He was definitely a friend, she was sure of it. But what did he think of her? Surely nothing more than friendship; she had seen the way he glanced subtly in Heero's direction when he thought nobody was looking. They definitely had something going on behind closed doors. 'No pun intended.' She thought, before falling softly into a deep, deep sleep. 


End file.
